Christmas Friendship
by Animation Universe 2005
Summary: Jojo meets a new friend and plans to give him a holiday spirit he never had.
1. Helping Out

I'm back! It's now time for an 'HHAW' Christmas fic! This is for my friends-vampire1031, lightfaith0606 and Whozonegirl! Hope ya like this one!

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Christmas Friendship

by: Terrell James

Chapter 1: Helping Out

December 12th-only 13 days until Christmas comes in and at Whoville High, everyone's getting into the Christmas spirit. Jojo McDodd walks through the halls wearing a dark grey hoodie as he makes his way to his locker, picking up a few books. He opens his locker and sees a little present from Mike and Cody. He picks it up and it said, 'For J-McDude. Your friends, Mike and Cody'. He chuckled and wanted to see what it is, so he opened it up and there's a pair of black earphones. The look on Jojo's face was amazed and surprised at the same time.

He then puts the gift back and stuffs it in his bag and then closes his locker and walks through the hallway. By then, he sees Cody drinking some water and when Cody notices Jojo, he said, "What's up, J-dude?"

"Not much. You?"

"Looking forward to Christmas, man!"

"So am I. Found your little gift on my locker. How'd you know?"

Cody chuckled softly and said, "Me and Mike already knew what you liked, so we thought what Jojo would like the most and immediately-earphones came in our minds."

Jojo chuckles and said, "Well, thanks. I like it."

"Glad you did, because it was like $3 bucks at the department store."

"That's it?"

"Yep. $3 bucks for a pair of earphones. I don't know if that's either a bargain or if they're pulling something on us."

"Well, it looks great. And it'll also go with my WhoPod."

"Awesome."

Suddenly, the bell rings as it's time for class. Cody looks at Jojo and said, "Gotta run. Don't wanna be tardy again. Second period?"

"I'll be there."

"Coolio."

Cody walks off one direction as Jojo walks to another one and while he was on his way to class, he came across a few seniors tormenting a freshman in the lockers. The look on Jojo's face was utter shock and disgust.

One slaps him in the face while another throws him down on the ground. All of them laughed at him and one even spat on his face. It drove Jojo bananas to see this happening, so he storms over to him and said, "Leave him alone!"

They stopped to see Jojo coming in and one said, "What you gonna do about it, McWeirdo?"

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size? Besides, it's almost Christmas!"

"Screw the holiday spirit! Why should we be nice on Christmas?"

"You're like a stupid Grinch!"

"Get out of our faces, McDodd!"

"Leave this guy alone! What has he ever done to you?"

"Look at him! The last thing we need in this school is an emo-freak!"

"Get...out..now."

"Or what?"

"Or I'll tell Misty that you've been trying to kiss Caitlyn at the movies last Friday."

One of the seniors looked at him in fear and he said, "You wouldn't."

"I would, because I have it on my WhoPhone and the pictures don't lie."

The senior eventually backed down and said, "You win, McDodd, but next time, you two won't be so lucky!"

They walked away and Jojo helped him up. He looked at him and asked, "You okay?"

The young who-dark brown eyes, 15 years old, midnight black hair with a spiky blue and green mohawk with a little fringe over his right eye, 144 pounds, about 5'3, grey and black striped fur, wearing a black and red sweatshirt that has a picture of a depressed young person, dark jeans, and wears a red and grey striped hoodie-looks at Jojo and asked, "Why'd you do that? No one's ever done that for me before."

"Well, I've been through something like this before and I can't even let something happen to someone like that." Jojo answered.

"Thanks, but I can deal with it. Besides, I don't have any friends."

"You new here?"

"I actually live across the block from downtown."

"So, you're from around here?"

"Yeah. Pretty much."

"Haven't I seen you before?"

"What do you mean?"

"First period, you wearing a little hoodie that covers your face so you wouldn't been seen."

"Yeah, that's me. Why?"

"Well, I can tell from the colors of your hoodie."

"It's like you can see through me."

"Sorta."

"Well, thanks for saving me..."

"Jojo. Jojo McDodd."

"Dustin. Dustin Savage. My full name's Dustin Jared Savage, but you can call me DJ for short."

"DJ?"

"Yeah. Dustin Jared's a cool name and all, but I shortened it to DJ, because-"

"Initials?"

"Yeah. Pretty much."

"Anyways, let's get to class."

"Same here."

Both of them walked to first period together and it seems as though a new friendship is starting to emerge.

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Was that awesome or what? This is just the beginning...


	2. Meeting DJ

Chatting about Christmas traditions as well as meeting Dustin "DJ" Savage.

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Chapter 2: Meeting DJ

When lunchtime came, Jojo and his friends went around their table, just talking about what's their christmas traditions. Jojo told them, "My dad would always put on his crappy Christmas tie that lights up in the bottom that says 'Dad's Christmas' on the center of it."

"Sounds cheesy." Marcus said.

"It's the most stupidest present he ever gotten."

"Not as cheesier as my dad's tradition-he makes Christmas pizza and get this-he puts cookies on it."

"Yikes!"

"Who puts cookies on pizza?" asked Misty.

"And snicker doodles."

"Snicker doodles and cookies on pizza?"

"Really?" asked Seth.

"Yes, really."

"Your dad's a pizza-holic." Zeke said.

"But that's how he is. It's a tradition he started some years ago and said that one day, he'll pass the tradition to me."

"So, you'll do the same thing."

"Actually, I'll make my own version and just leave out the snicker doodles and cookies out and leave them as desserts."

"How do they taste?" asked Noah.

"Honestly, they taste good, but it looks weird."

"Our traditions is to sing Christmas music and also rock out a christmas song as if we own the songs." Cody said.

"When we first started it, it was just me, Cody and Alex all together just jamming. How we miss those days." Mike said.

"Did you still do those?" asked Austin.

"Yeah, we have. This is also gonna be the first Christmas without Alex around, but it's not gonna dampen our spirits, so we'll get through it." Cody said.

"Man, you must be lucky. My dad kinda hates Christmas, because everyone's so happy and all. Even when I do get into the Christmas spirit, my dad would be against it." Zeke said.

"That is so cruel!" Misty said.

"Yeah, why even bother being a Scrooge?" asked Caitlyn.

"Exhibit 'A'." Mike said.

"Watch it, Mike! Otherwise, I'll ask Santa to put you on the 'Naughty' list." Misty scowled.

"Ooh, I'm scared." Mike said, sarcastically.

"Well, my parents always celebrate Christmas and our traditions are to just give to those less fortunate. We always go around giving out food, clothes and I give out all my toys I never use anymore to kids who don't need it." Noah said.

"Wow. That's amazing."

"Well, giving is better than receiving."

"Me, Seth and our dad always watch Christmas movies together and my dad would always take pictures of ourselves in the tree and he would be goofy on the holidays, but at the same time, he would always give us the Christmas spirit. He also helps out other people in need and drinks hot chocolate." Austin said.

"Sounds pretty cool."

"Definitely."

"And he would always play Santa to other kids in every Christmas party." Seth said.

"Does he really?" asked Zeke.

"Yep."

"Well, back in Who'aii, our Christmas was not like you guys'. Ours was kinda bleak and grim. So, we never had a Christmas before, even though Mana and I give each other gifts." Koa said.

"What was the reason?" asked Noah.

"Our dad always harms us during the holidays. After drinking too much eggnog, he gets angrily very easily."

"Who gets angry after drinking eggnog? I've heard of people being drunk after drinking way too much eggnog, but I never knew it would make you ticked." Misty said.

"You'd be surprised." Mana said.

Suddenly, Jojo sees DJ walking through the cafeteria and sits on a table by himself. The thought of him eating by himself really made him feel sorry for him. Marcus sees Jojo looking at someone and asked, "Who you looking at?"

Marcus sees DJ sitting at lunch by himself and asked, "Who's he?"

"A new friend I met earlier." Jojo replied.

Everyone else looked at him and realized that he's a loner. Caitlyn said, "Why not ask him to eat with us?"

"You sure about it?" asked Cody.

"Yeah, why not?"

Jojo stands up, walks over to the table and looks at DJ and said, "Hey."

"Hey, Jojo."

"You wanna...eat with my friends?"

DJ looks at Jojo and asked, "Friends?"

"Yeah, I know they'll like you."

"You sure?"

"Of course."

DJ looks at his friends and sees him staring at him. It made him feel a little afraid and asked, "What if they don't like me?"

"Come on. Why would they not?"

DJ sighed nervously and stood up, brung his food with him and went with Jojo to the table. Jojo introduced him with a smile and said, "Guys, I'd like you to meet my new friend, Dustin Savage. Dustin, this is Cody and Mike McKinney, Marcus Swift, Noah Keyser, Caitlyn Fanning, Misty Kirkpatrick, Seth and Austin Zimmerman and Zeke Silverman."

"Hello." DJ said, shyly.

"Hey, Dustin! How's it going, man?" Cody said.

"Fine."

"How'd you guys meet?" asked Misty.

"Some seniors were picking at him and I stopped it myself." Jojo said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I had to let them get away by telling Misty that one of the seniors tried to kiss Caitlyn at the movies."

Caitlyn groans and said, "I hope you haven't posted it on WhoTube."

"Of course not. Took a picture of it to prove it."

Jojo whipped out his WhoPhone and shows the picture of it. Misty took a look at it and said, "How did this guy talk you into taking you to the movies?"

"He won't stop calling me, so I wanted to take him just so he could shut up, but unfortunately, he wanted to kiss me."

"Tell me where this guy lives and I'll give him something underneath a misteltoe."

DJ looks at Jojo and asked, "Is she always like this?"

"Kinda." Jojo shrugged.

"If you stay around with her long enough, her vein will pop out and explode." Mike said.

"Want me to pop your brains out?"

"This is how we roll, DJ. But we're all like family." Cody said.

"Always."

"If you say so."

Everyone starts to get to know about DJ a little more and throughout lunch, DJ is slowly starting to get used to being around them a little. What will the next few days bring for him?

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There are more where these came from! Stick around!


	3. About DJ

A few things about DJ.

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Chapter 3: About DJ

A few hours had passed and as the bell rang, everyone in Whoville High went out of the door and headed for home. DJ was the one to walk home by himself and when he did, he got stopped by Zeke. He turns around and sees Zeke running and caught up with him.

"Walking home?" asked Zeke.

"Yeah, I am." he replied.

"Well, I just wanted to know what you like, what you do and stuff like that."

Jojo walked by as well and he saw DJ and Zeke and followed them as well to see what they're up to. When they see Jojo, they immediately greet him. He asked, "What's up, guys?"

"We were about to talk to DJ really quick before he heads home. We realize that we don't know what he likes or something like that." Zeke said.

"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot." Jojo said, with an embarassed chuckle.

"Well, I like to write songs and poetry. I play guitar, piano and drums. My dad never took an interest in music, because he thinks it's just a waste of time." DJ said.

"Man, I feel your pain. My dad detests it with a passion." Zeke said.

"A passion?" asked Jojo.

"Yep."

"That sucks, dude." Zeke said.

"But I like skateboarding a lot."

"Amazing."

"So, what are your plans for Christmas?" asked Jojo.

DJ stayed kinda silent about that question, because there was something inside of it that was missing. He lowered his head down a little bit, as if he doesn't want to talk about it. Zeke asked, "You do have a Christmas, right?"

DJ answered silently, "No."

"Never?" asked Jojo, in shock.

"Never."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

Jojo and Zeke could see that it's deeply personal and dark, so they decided not to ask him about it and left it out of the subject. Zeke said, "Well, you don't have to tell us if you don't want to."

"Thanks. That's all I need. Anyway, I gotta go home. See you guys tomorrow?" said DJ.

"Sure thing."

"Absoultely." Jojo said.

"Nice meeting you guys."

"You too."

DJ walked off and Zeke and Jojo walked home as well, just talking and all. As they went in separate ways home, Jojo had DJ on his mind to think something might've happened to caused him not to have a Christmas. He sighed heavily as the air blew cold and puts on his hoodie and headed for home. Suddenly, Mike and Cody walked past him and waved at him. Jojo waved back at him and said, "Thanks for the present!"

"Anytime, man!" Cody exclaimed.

He eventually made it home and when he got there, the living room became decorative and everything Christmas was there. The look on Jojo's face was completely surprised and astonished. Then, his dad came over with his tie, with that goofy smile on his face.

"Hey, Jojo! Getting into the holiday spirit, son?"

Then, he looked at his tie and said, "I was until I saw the tie."

"Hey, Jojo. Had a good day at school?" asked Sally.

"Sure thing."

Jojo walked upstairs to his room and went to his bed and wanted to know about DJ a little more. The fact that DJ never had a christmas made him want to know more. He sighed heavily and decided to head to the observatory to keep his mind very clear.

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Sounds like DJ had some tragic memory that no one else knew..except for Jojo. Will he try to break through to him? Find out!

P.S.: vampire1031, I just thought of the nickname, so the name Dustin-it's not you. I can put in Dustin if you want. Anyways, stick around for more.

Also, for this story, should I put in Dustin or DJ? You can send an answer while you review.


	4. The Observatory Tour

DJ gets to see Jojo's observatory for the first time!

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Chapter 4: The Observatory Tour

Sometime later, Jojo heads to the observatory to gather his thoughts about DJ. Once he got there, he went over to the top of the roof and just looked at the entire town there and wonder why someone never had a christmas before. He found it completely puzzling about this and also the fact that DJ doesn't want to tell him about it. He sighed heavily and buried his head between his legs.

"Hey, Jojo."

Jojo turns around and sees Jonah there. He said, "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Well, Sally told me you'd be here, so I figured I'd come over to see what's up with you."

He sat down next to Jojo and Jojo told him, "I made a new friend today."

"Really? What's his name?"

"Dustin Savage. I just call him 'DJ'."

"What's he like?"

"Kinda shy and quiet. But feels troubled and I'm not sure why."

"How so?"

"Well, he told me and Zeke he never had a Christmas before."

"Really?'

"Yep. I didn't want to ask him too much, but I can tell that something must've happened to him."

"How can you figure?"

"By looking into his eyes. It tells me that something happened to him in his past that no one knows about."

"If it makes you feel any better, I saw him walking down the hallway, looking kinda quiet. When I said 'hi' to him, he just looked at me and didn't respond. He just waved at me and went on his way."

"I think it's his way of being shy. I'm not sure why though."

"Me neither."

"Have you ever had a Christmas before?"

Jonah sighed heavily and blew his hair a little and said, "To be honest, me and my brothers never had a Christmas."

"Never?"

"It was after mom died, so. We spent the rest of our Christmas in suffering, because of our step dad. So instead of presents, the gifts we have were beatings and also some name-calling and insults."

"That's rough."

"I know. Even though we have everything, we never had the holiday spirit like we used to."

"Well, maybe you guys can have it back this year."

"You really think so?"

"Yep. On the day we get out of school for Christmas break, we have a Christmas party, which is kinda like a kick-off to the week before Christmas."

"Sounds cool."

"Yep. We have everything around this party-games, music, food, the entire gymnasium decorated all Christmas-y like. It's amazing."

"When does it happen?"

"It said Friday, so."

"And it's only Tuesday."

"Kinda."

"Hopefully, things will go great with us and DJ."

Jojo sighed and said, "Yeah, me too."

Suddenly, they heard a noise coming from nowhere. Jojo and Jonah looked down and saw DJ coming in. He said, "Hey, DJ! Up here!"

DJ looked up and saw Jojo there and said, "How do I get up here?"

"Use the slingshot!"

DJ got in the elastic slingshot, pulled the lever and catapulted in the air. Jojo went out of the roof and when he got to the front of the door, he sees DJ flying in the air and caught him in mid-air. DJ looked back and looked shaken about this device.

Jojo chuckled and said, "That's how I get in."

"Where am I?"

"You're at the observatory, my friend."

Just then, Jonah swoops in and sees DJ for the second time again. DJ looks at him and said, "You're that person I saw at school today, right?"

"Yeah. I'm Jonah Mosley."

"I'm Dustin Jared Savage. But I shortened it to 'DJ'."

"Anyways, wanna see what it looks like inside?" asked Jojo.

"Sure thing."

Jojo opened the small door to get in and both DJ and Jonah got inside there. DJ looks at the place with much astonishment and surprise that Jojo made something like this. He said, "This is your observatory?"

"Yep."

"Jojo invented those awesome things."

He looked at every contraption Jojo made and hears some sounds going in them. He asked, "What are you inventing?"

"Music instruments."

"Really? That's awesome."

"I know. Check this out."

Jojo soon get on the top and turns on every single invention possible as he goes around every nook and cranny he invented. DJ was completely blown away from this and suddenly, Jojo pulls the lever and the roof opens up. To DJ's surprise, he gets up with Jonah and sees the entire city of Whoville there.

"Wow! This is amazing!" DJ exclaimed.

"Pretty cool, huh?"

"Yeah, I'll say."

"What do you do there anyway?"

"Mostly, it's an escape from everything in my life-mainly my dad."

"I wish I escaped from my dad in a place like this?"

"What do you mean?" asked Jonah.

DJ sighed heavily and said, "Well, it's kind of a long story."

"My dad's kinda-how should I put this-we have a weird relationship, but mostly dysfunctional."

"How dysfunctional?" asked Jojo.

"Crazy dysfunctional. We don't get along much, especially during the holidays."

"Any reason?" asked Jonah.

"Well, most things are left unsaid."

Jonah can suddenly see Jojo's point from that. Jonah sighed heavily and said, "Well, okay. If you want to keep it to yourself, I respect that."

"Thanks. Anyway, I gotta get home, but thanks for showing me this awesome observatory." DJ said.

"You're welcome here anytime." Jojo said.

"Hey, DJ." Jonah called out.

"Yeah?"

"The school has this Christmas party on Friday, so we're kinda hoping that you can come with us, if you want to, that is."

DJ thought about it and then thought about hanging out with his new friends and said, "Sure thing."

"Cool. Hope you come."

"All right. Bye, guys!"

"Bye."

"Nice meeting you, Jonah."

"You too."

As DJ heads off, Jonah and Jojo went back to their house as well. They left the observatory as the sun starts to set down on the horizon of Whoville into the cold clear evening.

* * *

Was that awesome or what? There's more coming up!


	5. Christmas Project

A little moment between Zeke and DJ coming up, but first-remember Paul-the crazy stepdad who abused the Mosley boys from 'Brothers' Angst'? Well, Hawk and Travis is sharing a story that no one has ever known about before-how their stepfather used to treat his sons on Christmas.

* * *

Chapter 5: Christmas Project

The next day, most of the students are in the classroom just to make christmas cards to give to their families. Most of the gang were just making some cards and drew a christmas tree. Jojo drew a Christmas tree and in it were some inventions of music instruments that he might build sometime. Travis and Hawk looked at Jojo and Hawk asked, "What you drawing?"

"Just some music instruments over the Christmas tree." Jojo answered.

He showed it to them and they were utterly surprised and amazed that this was in his imagination. Hawk said, "I can imagine this being over the tree. It'll be really cool."

"Yeah, it looks amazing. A big rubber band ball over the tree and violin saws on the mantle." Travis said.

"You invented those?"

"Yep. They're at the observatory." Jojo answered.

"That's impressive."

"What are you guys drawing?"

"Me and my brothers together on the Christmas tree, just being happy for the first time. For once, it's the one holiday where we can finally be happy and feel so safe unlike past Christmases." Hawk said.

"How come?" asked Jojo.

"Well, our stepdad makes our lives miserable and he always puts us down and completely messes us up every Christmas. So, when December 25th comes around and we celebrate it, he would always mess it up for us."

"Hey, couldn't help overhearing, but did you say your stepdad messes up your Christmas?" asked Marcus.

"Yep."

"What did he do?"

"Mostly, he finds some Christmas lights, take them out of the tree and tie us up with it and they'd still be on, waiting for us to get electrocuted." Hawk said.

"Is he that serious?"

"Yep."

"That's just plain stupid."

"Not to mention crazy. I never knew he would do that." Jojo said.

"He'd hang us up on the tree for a freaking three hours until he shuts off the lights and unties us. And he'd strangle it on our necks for 5 minutes."

"Is he mentally insane?" asked Marcus.

"Very much so, when he's fueled by eggnog, beer, painkillers and crystal meth."

"Wait...you mean he was a..."

"Alcoholic and a drug user." Travis finished.

The reaction on Jojo and Marcus' face was full of shock and disbelief when they heard that their stepfather was a drug and alcohol addict. They looked at each other and then turned to Hawk and Travis and Marcus told them, "That was brutally painful."

"No one in their right mind would do something like that to you, especially this time of year." Jojo said.

"I still have the scar on my neck to prove it." Travis said.

Jojo looked closer to the bottom of his neck and sees a little scar there and really didn't know what to make of it. He said, "I'm sorry that happened to you guys."

"So did we. And throughout the years, it's been a brutal moment and one of his 'Christmas tradition' when he's mad." Travis said.

"Well, this year, you won't have to worry about that anymore, because you got me, mom, dad and my 96 sisters." Jojo said, with a smile.

"That really means a lot to us." Hawk said.

"So, what you drew, Marcus?" asked Travis.

Marcus pulled out a christmas card with him in the Christmas tree, wearing a dark Christmas hoodie that said, 'Christmas is the coolest'. Jojo, Travis and Hawk laughed heartily and said, in unison, "Awesome statement."

"Glad you guys liked it." Marcus said.

Cody and Mike came over towards them along with Jonah and Noah and wanted to see what they're up to. Cody asked, "Hey, guys. What's up?"

"Nothing much. Just talking." Marcus said.

"That's cool."

"Hey, Jonah. Hawk and Travis told me that your dad strangled you with some christmas lights around your neck and tied you up in the tree. Is that true?"

"Really?" asked Mike.

"I didn't know that." Cody said.

Jonah sighed in exasperation and said, "Yeah, it's true. It was his 'Christmas tradition' mixed with extreme discipline."

"Since when does strangling your neck on some christmas lights come across as Christmas tradition and discipline?" asked Noah.

"Eggnog, beer, painkillers and crystal meth." Jonah answered.

"That's sick."

"And cocaine."

"Cocaine?" asked Jojo.

"Yes, cocaine. It's his anger fluid."

"Yikes. That's extreme."

"Yep."

"He's a sick, sick dude." Cody said.

"Isn't he?"

"Yep. Anyways, we've made some christmas cards that we can bring home to show our parents. Wanna see?" asked Noah.

"Sure, why not?"

They showed them the christmas cards and they looked amazed and liked the cards. Mike told them, "I drew myself playing in the snow. I kinda look like a geek in this drawing."

"Finally! You finally admit it!" Misty said.

"Who's talking to you?"

"When I heard you say that you look like a geek."

"Yeah, whatever."

One of the teachers come up and saw that they were looking at each other's work and told them, "Sounds like you all are showing your art."

"Of course."

"Well, as soon as you're done 'chatting', please turn them in and after that, I'll give them back to you, so you'll take them home to show your parents."

"All right."

The teacher walks around and sees a down and depressed DJ, sitting down with only a pencil. He goes over to Caitlyn and said, "What's wrong with DJ?"

She looks at DJ and answered, "I don't know."

They see DJ with his head lowering down, sighing heavily, not showing his face at all. The teacher sees Zeke walking by and said, "Hey, Zeke. You busy?"

"Not really. I was gonna show you my card." Zeke answered.

He took a look at the card and became impressed. He then said, "Hey, you mind helping DJ for a while?"

Zeke looked at DJ and sees that he's kinda a little let-down and figures he might need someone and replied, "Sure thing."

He walks towards DJ and asked, "Need some help?"

DJ looked up and asked, "You...helping me?"

"Well, yeah."

Zeke grabs a seat and sits down next to him and tries to brighten DJ up a little and asked, "I see you're holding a pencil."

"Yeah. I'm not really sure what I might say about Christmas." DJ replied.

"Just think of something. Let it come straight from your heart."

"I'm not sure what to say, because I never had a Christmas before."

"Hey, that's okay. Just think of something meaningful."

DJ thought about it for a second and then he thought of something simple. He then wrote in 'Hope your spirit comes straight from your heart' and drew a heart and on the center of it is a christmas tree. He looks at Zeke and asked, "What do you think?"

"Pretty awesome."

"My dad's not into Christmas, typically because we don't get along mostly. So I'm not sure what to say to him."

"You get in fights mostly?"

"Yeah."

"So do I. Try living with mine and he's definitely sports addicted and he tries to put me into it, when I know I don't."

"That's rough. There are so many reasons-how I look, how I sound, the music I listen to, my hair. Everything I do, every mistake I make, everything I do, he just never accepts me and it's never good enough."

"Man, I can relate to that. I feel the same way you do with my dad. Sometimes when I need something to get off my chest, I write down my feelings on paper."

"I do the same and often times, I still feel the hurt towards my dad, so writing about is like my free therapy for me."

"And skateboarding has been my second escape for me."

"Mine too."

"Sounds like we have everything in common, I guess."

"Yeah, we do."

Jojo looks at DJ and Zeke and sees that they're getting along together and there's laughter and talking involved. He smiled a little to know that DJ's starting to open up a little and took comfort that when they pull in, it'll be like the ultimate christmas gift.

* * *

Was that great or what? Stick around for more!


	6. DJ Opens Up

We finally see DJ open up about his tragic Christmas past.

* * *

Chapter 6: DJ Opens Up

Few hours after school, DJ sees Jojo coming up to the observatory and follows him. When Jojo hears something, he turns around and sees nothing. He exhaled softly and continues walking. As soon as he's inside the observatory, he hears the slingshot go off and up comes DJ going in.

Jojo was surprised and asked, "I see you found me."

"Yeah, I have."

"What's up?"

"Can I talk to you, if that's cool?"

"Of course it's cool with me. Can we talk on the roof?'

"Sure."

Both DJ and Jojo sat on the roof on the edge of the observatory, just feeling the wind coming through and their hair was blown a little. Jojo sighed softly and said, "I like coming out here. It just gives me such an escape from everything. Again, it's the only place I can come when I don't have to deal with so much crap in my life."

"I know."

"So, what's up? I saw you talking to Zeke when we were making Christmas cards."

"Yeah, he's cool. We've talked pretty much and made some cards together. You know, I think we have the same things in common-writing songs."

"I write songs too." Jojo said.

"Really? I had no idea."

"I was thinking about showing Zeke my songs, but I figured maybe I could show them to you after I tell you something."

"Well, I'm all ears."

DJ sighed nervously and said, "How do I put this? The reason why I never had a Christmas is that there was a tragedy happened to me when I was about three. It was a day before Christmas Eve and my mom went to the store to get something for me and dad. She never came back because she got into a car accident and a drunk driver ran over her. She died that night. I looked at the window waiting for her to come home and even when I went to bed, I still waited for her to come home. I was awake for most of that night and I waited and waited and it hit me-she never came home."

Jojo didn't know that that really happened a long time ago. He exhaled sharply and said, "I'm really sorry that happened to you."

"It was the first Christmas I had without my mom and it's been rough ever since. Since she died, me and my dad never got close after that." DJ said.

DJ's eyes welled up with tears as each one of them fell down on his face and he wiped them quickly. He sighed sadly and sniffled a few times and Jojo puts his hand on DJ's shoulder and said, "I completely understand why you never told me this before. Because you're afraid that you'll feel the pain again."

"Pretty much. My dad...we never got along and there's always antagonism between us and as I got older, it grew worse because of how I look and stuff. He always told me that I will never amount to anything and that I'm a waste of life."

"I'm sorry, DJ."

"So am I. Now every December, I look back on that day and I always feel a deep pain inside of me like a knife stabbed inside my chest and it can't be pulled out, like it's always there."

"Well, it's a good thing you have a friend like me now."

DJ looked at Jojo and something clicked inside of him, like a friendship is brewing towards them. Even though they just met, it feels like they knew each other for years. He then whipped out his songbook and showed it to Jojo. He flipped through every pages and all of those have deep lyrics and he went to one of those and read them.

_I am moving through the crowd, trying to find myself, feel like a guitar that's never played, will someone strum away?_

_And I ask myself who do I wanna be? Do I wanna throw away the key and invent a whole new me and I tell myself, no one, no one don't wanna be no one, but me_

The lyrics were captivating and it really resonated with him. He asked, "What does it mean?"

"Do I wanna follow the crowd or stay true to who I am? That's pretty much the feeling that if someone accepts me for me." DJ answered.

"Amazing."

Jojo went through some more and one really sees a side of DJ he's never known before.

_I am a little bit of loneliness, a little bit of disregard, handful of complaints, but I can't help the fact that everyone can see these scars_

_I am what I want you to want what I want you to feel , but it's like no matter what I do, I can't convince you to just believe this is real _

_So I let go, watching you turn your back like you always do, face away and pretend that I'm not, but I'll be here cause you're all that I got_

"Whoa...what did it meant?"

"It meant that no matter what I do, no one notices me, but I don't want to be ignored when I am what I am."

"Wish I had that. Those songs are amazing. Maybe I can share mine to you."

"Hope so."

"I've always been a victim of bullying, like I'm their favorite target and it never stops. There were times where I wanted to end my life, but I can't because I am what I am and these are the cards that I've been dealt with. Those stupid morons that bully me need to get a life and not bother me anymore."

"That's how I feel as well. Because I'm the mayor's son and that I'm so different from others that they call me an 'emo-freak'. It just doesn't bother me much, but often times, it does, but it's their problem, not mine."

"Yeah, I understand."

"But it gets better. Even if it doesn't, it'll get better."

"Guess you're right. Thanks for listening to me."

"What are friends for?"

"You're the first friend I ever had. Well, you're the only friend and the same as your friends."

"We'll always be here for you, especially in this season."

DJ smiled and said, "Thanks, Jojo."

* * *

Jojo's a good friend for DJ, especially through this holiday season. Keep your head up, Dustin! The songs were 'No One' from Aly & AJ and 'Faint' from Linkin Park. Hope ya'll likey! I've got some more coming up!


	7. Antagonism and Pressure

Now we can see the dynamic antagonism of Dustin and his father in his home, so here's what I've got so far.

* * *

Chapter 7: Antagonism and Pressure

DJ made it home and as soon as he enters inside, someone came out the darkness and asked, "What took ya so long?"

"Nothing much." DJ replied.

His father-42 years old, 176 pounds, 5'9, green eyes, blue and green striped, wearing plaid overalls with a seatshirt, blue jeans, with a tattoo on his arms and dark black hair with grey streaks in it-stares at DJ and asked, "You haven't been in some gangs, have you?"

"Dad, you know I'm not interested in stuff like that." DJ said.

"Yeah, but with hair like that, you should've been."

He sighed heavily and rolled his eyes at him and walked away from him and went up to his room until his father bellowed out, "DUSTIN!"

It kinda shook him up a little and Dustin stared at him with much fear and asked, "Y-Yes?"

"Look at this tree."

He looked at the tree and asked, "What about it?"

"Christmas sucks!"

"How can you say that?"

"Everyone's so freakin' happy about everything around this holiday while I'm stuck here with you, with your hair, the way you dress and that music you listen to."

"What does that have to do with the tree?"

"When your mother left us behind, we're stuck with this stupid tree that she picked out and left me here with you."

Dustin didn't really get the memo and asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"If you weren't my son, I would be better off living by myself, but instead, I have you who can't even do anything right."

Dustin sighed as he blew his hair and said, "It's not like I'm hurting you or anything. And you think I don't miss my mom? Ever since she died, you've been putting the blame on me like it's my fault for making this happen and I was only three freaking years old! The accident was not my fault!"

"Who asked for that stupid teddy bear for Christmas?"

"Me, but that's not the point."

"EXACTLY! I bet you caused it to happen! You know what? I don't want to deal with this anymore. Why couldn't you have left with your mom and got killed with her? You're a miserable excuse for a son."

His dad storms off and Dustin asked, "Where you going?"

"Shut up and it's none of your business! I'm going to get some groceries, if you cared about me at all."

"I do!" Dustin cried.

"If you were, why couldn't you be like the perfect son?"

He slammed the door and stormed off, leaving Dustin in disarray and tears fell from his face and lowered his head down the stairway and started crying. He then looked up at the ceiling and thought to himself, 'Mom, I know it's not my fault that you died, but dad is just too brutal to admit it. I wish you were here now.'

He then walked over to his room and within a period of a few minutes in the room, he started writing a little melodic poem while the tears start falling down from his face. He then picked up his guitar, played it and started singing the little song while breaking down in sobs.

_Nothing I ever do_

_always seems to go right_

_I try to impress you_

_but it's never enough in your sight_

_Like you think I'm failing_

_as a son that you love to hate_

_All you wanted was the perfect son_

_but I'm not one of those in a crate_

_Everytime I try to make you happy_

_you always tear me down to shreds_

_Why can't you see it in my eyes_

_That I can't do what everyone expects me, like my words bled_

_Can't take the pressure anymore_

_Don't wanna deal with your hating face_

_Cause my heart is in pain_

_and I wish I would leave this earth for space_

_It's like I'm worthless to you_

_And that's what it'll take_

_No matter what I do_

_it's never enough, cause I'm nothing but a mistake_

After that, he puts his guitar down, lays face down on his bed and starts crying softly. He really felt a lot of anguish that his dad thinks he's the reason for causing his mom's death, but it wasn't really his fault in the first place. But he was so sick of his dad wanting him to be the son he wanted to be that he just wants to be himself.

"Why do you always hate me?" Dustin asked, with a tear in his eye.

* * *

Was that dramatic or what? Poor Dustin. This was a poem that I thought up of because I wanted to make something that everyone can relate to about being pressured as the perfect person everyone expects them to be. So, hopefully, this one will click. There's more on the way!


	8. A Comfort Hand

This chapter starts out pretty heartfelt, but in the ending of it, you'll LOL!

* * *

Chapter 8: A Comfort Hand

Two days until school's out for the holiday season and already the entire school is feeling every glance of the holiday spirit. Cody and Zeke were walking around the hallways, just talking and laughing.

"So, what happened?" asked Zeke.

"Mike tried to put the star on the Christmas tree and when he tried to, he fell down on the living room and landed on the floor and nearly broke his butt." Cody said.

Zeke laughed hysterically and said, "No way! Did that really happen?"

"Yeah, it did. We were only 12 and it became Mike's most embarassing story for Christmas."

"How'd he felt after that?"

"He was okay, but he was very embarassed because Alex had a video camera for this and he taped everything."

"He still got the camera?"

"Since he died, he kept his camera in his room-which is currently my room-and every Christmastime, I want to see it again until Mike sees me watching that embarassing moment and he would chase me around the house to tell me to drop it, so no one would see it."

"How many times have you seen it?"

"Like 700. Just yesterday, I wondered what if everyone saw it, so I uploaded it to WhoTube."

"Really? How many times did they view it?"

"I don't know. I have to check it to see."

"Does Mike know?"

"Nope."

"Knows what?"

They see Jojo walking by and Zeke said, "Cody posted a video of Mike falling down the floor and landed on his butt while trying to put a star on the Christmas tree some years ago."

"Was he okay?"

"Yeah, he was fine, but he was embarassed."

"Like how embarassed?"

"Uber-embarassed."

"Where did you post it?"

"Whotube." Cody snickered.

"I think everyone's gonna see it."

"Yeah, I know. I just wanted to see how many views it got. I would've check before I left for school, but as always, I'm a heavy sleeper, so I decided to check later at the library."

"Stoked about the Christmas party?"

Suddenly, they see Chad coming in and Cody responded, "Dude, I'm amped."

"Coolio."

"Hey, guys. I have to hit the restroom real quick." Jojo said.

"All right. See ya."

Jojo heads over to the men's room for a quick second. After a few seconds, he washed his hands and as soon as he left, he heard someone crying in there. He went over to one of the stalls and when he opened the door, he saw Dustin sitting there. Jojo went in and said, "DJ, you okay?"

Dustin looked up and he saw Jojo and quickly wiped his eyes and said, "Yeah."

"You sure?"

Dustin sighed heavily and said, "No."

"You can tell me about it in the hallway."

Both of them went out of the men's room and went to the hallway to talk. Dustin told him, "My dad and I had a little fight."

"What happened?"

"He thinks that mom's car accident was my fault and it's not true. He blamed me for causing my mom's death and I'm still not over it. Even though I try, it always hit me."

"Why would your dad blame you when you had nothing to do with it?"

"As I said, we never got along since the accident. Everything I do around him is never good enough. He thinks that if I didn't exist, he'd find a better son than me."

"That's harsh. I'm sorry that he said that to you."

"I just don't know what to do, Jojo. I love my dad, but sometimes I wish he would just understand that I can't change who I am just to make him feel happy."

"Ask yourself this question-do you like being who you are?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Well, regardless of what he says, don't let it get you down. All he has to do is love you."

"I know. It's just hard to get him to understand that I'm not who he thinks I should be."

"I know how you feel. It's sorta like that with my dad, him wanting me to be mayor of Whoville when I really want to do music, so I'd rather do that than be in the mayoral position. You have no idea how embarassing and frustrating it is when your dad doesn't relate to you."

"I know. It just sucks, you know?"

"Yeah. But it gets better. Just accept yourself for who youa re and don't forget-you have great friends who you'll be lucky to have and always have a shoulder to cry on."

Dustin looks at Jojo and sees that he's got a friend in him and for the first time in his life, he felt like he can really use one. His tears slowly went down his face and said,. "You're the only one who understands me."

"I feel the same way you do, Dustin."

"Thanks."

"Anytime."

"Hey, guys! You have got to see this WhoTube video! It is so awesome!" Marcus said, with excitement.

"What was that all about?" asked Dustin.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it might cheer you up."

Both of them headed for the library and immediately, they saw Mike at 12 years old, putting the star on top of the Christmas tree and suddenly-

BOOM!

They all exclaimed in surprise as he saw Mike land on his butt and most of them were laughing hysterically. Jojo looked at Cody and asked, "Did you record this?"

"Nah, it was Alex." Cody answered.

"Man, that was a crazy fall."

"Yeah, but it was hilarious seeing it. Just uploaded it up last night and somehow, it got over 200 hits! How cool is that?"

Dustin's face lightened up after he saw that video and said, "It did cheer me up."

"Yeah, I'm glad it did."

"CODY!"

Suddenly, the students turned around and a seething Mike was entering after finding out that the video is posted on WhoTube.

"OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH!" al the students exclaimed.

"Man, are you gonna get it." Marcus said.

Cody chuckled nervously and backed away and took off on the other door and started running. Mike screamed in crazy anger as he chased Cody towards the quad and into the gymnasium.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Mike screamed.

"Mind if a get a close-up?" asked Cody.

"I'll give you a close-up...on your face!"

Misty came out of the crowd and told Jojo, "Let me know how it turns out. And tell Cody awesome video, by the way. It'll be added in my favorite videos list."

"Will do."

"You know, I never thought I would see an embarassing video of Mike on WhoTube until Cody showed it to me. Tis the season to land on your butt, Michael!"

Cody chased Mike all around the gymnasium and all the kids gathered to watch the whole thing go down and most of them were laughing like it was the highlight of entertainment for the holidays.

* * *

Was that cool or what? More where those come from!


	9. Christmas Break

The gang looks forward to Christmas break! As well as the party!

* * *

Chapter 9: Christmas Break

It was time for the beginning of the Christmas break and Jojo is eagerly excited for it. He goes through his locker to get his stuff cleared out when he sees Mike standing behind him. He turns around to see he's actually there. He smiled and said, "Hey, Mike."

"How's it going, Jojo?" asked Mike.

"Pretty good. You?"

Mike exhaled sharply and said, "I'm cool, despite being embarrassed by everyone in the entire school after Cody posted this thing on WhoTube."

Jojo started laughing, which made Mike a little more embarrassed then ever. Jojo looked at Mike and stopped laughing for a while. He cleared his throat and said, "I take you're not gonna forgive him, huh?"

"Not really sure. There's something in me that wants to not forgive him, but it's the holidays."

"So your brother posted an embarrassing moment over the internet. It's not like everyone in school's tormenting you."

"In some strange way, it hasn't. Most of them were cool with it, because they had that same moment I had and they're still laughing about it. In fact, this morning, a few guys went from the gym and told me stories about the time their brothers recorded an embarassing moment that happened on Christmas. In some way, it made me want to just laugh at myself for what happened when I was 12."

"You can take an embarrassing moment and you can still laugh about it instead of being mortified from it."

"Yeah, I guess you're right, Jojo."

Suddenly, Cody slowly walked past Mike and Jojo and fears that Mike's still mad at Cody, so he looks at Jojo and said, "Hey, J-man. How's it going?"

"Pretty good. I am ready for Christmas break. You guys still on for the Christmas party tonight?" Jojo replied.

"Stoked." Mike said.

"Excited." Cody said.

Cody took a deep breath and said to Mike, "Listen, I'm sorry about posting it on WhoTube. If you're still mad at me about it-"

Mike interrupted him and said, "Dude, it's cool. I'm over that. Just because it's my embarrassing moment doesn't mean I can hold a grudge aginst you for it. I'm too smart for something like that. I would always forgive my brother no matter what. Plus, it was kinda funny."

"Yeah, it was."

"It's the only memory I have since Alex passed away."

"I felt the same way when I had his camera. Everything reminded me of him is in the camera-the way he would film us together, when he pranked us and how we pranked him back. All the good stuff."

"Well, we can still make new memories."

"Yeah we will. So, we back to double bros?'

"You bet."

Both of them did their secret handshake and hugged each other. Jojo stood across the locker with his arms folded, smiling. Cody turned to Jojo and asked, "Is Dustin coming?"

"I'm not sure. I hope he's going."

"Hey guys!"

Zeke and Marcus waved at Cody, Jojo and Mike and Zeke said, "Hey, what's up?"

"Not much. Just talking."

"That's cool. Stoked up about the Christmas party tonight?"

"Dude, we're excited as you are." Mike said.

Suddenly, Jonah, Travis, Koa, Mana, Hawk, Cyrus and Sam came over gathered around Cody, Mike, Jojo, Marcus and Zeke, just talking and such.

"You ever had a Christmas before, Zeke?" asked Mike.

"Barely. My dad's not so much into Christmas. He doesn't get how everyone gets so cheery over the holidays." Zeke answered.

"That's sort of the thing. Everyone gets cheery on the holidays."

"I'm hoping this year everything will be cool." Travis said.

"It will. You'll experience the McDodd holiday traditions."

"What are the McDodd holiday traditions?" asked Hawk.

Jojo sighed and said, "I guess I'll have to teach you guys the traditions. My dad would get this 45-minute ramble about his first christmas, which will put you to sleep mostly, mom would make the best hot chocolate and my sisters would always want my dad play Santa. For what I do, I always tell a story to Hedy. She loves those stories a lot and she would often ask for more."

"Sounds cool. On our christmas traditions, my parents would play Mr. and Mrs. Claus for other kids and we would perform songs for them." Cody said.

"That's awesome. Wanna know what our family does for Christmas? My dad would make Christmas pizza and he would sing every Christmas song...off-key. I swear it sounds like something scratching underneath the floor and it gets irritating." Marcus said.

"Man, that must be brutal." Koa said.

"Big brutal. But my mom would make some cookies and snicker doodles. I swear, those are so good."

"Mana and I needed a Christmas so bad. We need a good Christmas this time and I'm hoping it will do something that won't leave us depressed."

"Depressed? On Christmas?"

"Yeah, our dad is very brutal towards us and somehow, he's not much of a Christmas person, so we spend Christmas Day being beaten by him over the small things, one of those being Christmas spirit." Mana said.

"That's kinda unheard of." Sam said.

"But that's how it goes."

"Well, don't worry. This year, you guys will have an awesome Christmas, cause you're with us." Jojo said.

"Hope so."

When they left the school, Dustin walked through the halls and the hallways were empty. He looked back and sees all the Christmas stuff around him, and he's hoping that he'll have the Christmas memory to have it locked in his mind. Suddenly, Jojo comes from behind and said, "Getting into Christmas yet?"

Dustin looked behind and told Jojo, "I guess so. I'm almost there, though."

Jojo puts his hand on Dustin's shoulder and said, "Don't worry so much. Tonight, you will definitely feel the joy you never felt before."

Both Jojo and Dustin walked out of the school, just laughing and talking and Dustin feels as if this is gonna be the best Christmas ever.

* * *

Stick around for more of this! The Christmas party is coming up next!


	10. Christmas Party

Well, here it is! The best Christmas party ever!

* * *

Chapter 10: Christmas Party

On Friday evening, Jojo went to the school to jump-start the Christmas break with a Christmas party and soon enough, he saw Dustin standing outside. Jojo was surprised that Dustin came here first. He said, "Hey, what's up?"

Dustin turned around and saw Jojo coming in and said, "Not much. Just waiting for everyone else to come around."

"This will be a Christmas moment that you'll remember after this party."

"Yeah, I hope so."

Seeing that Dustin's a little skeptical, Jojo whips out his camera and plans to take a picture of him and Dustin. Dustin sees Jojo with the camera and asked, "Taking a picture?"

"Yep."

Dustin suddenly smiled and said, "Mind if I be in there?"

"Of course." Jojo said, with a smile.

Dustin went into Jojo's side and they both smiled and Jojo took the picture of him and Dustin together. They looked at it and knew that this will be a great Christmas picture. Jojo chuckled and said, "Now, that's worth a thousand words."

"You said it."

And then, Jonah, Cyrus, Hawk, Travis and Sam came by all said hey to both Jojo and Dustin. Jojo asked, "What took you guys so long?"

"We would've gotten here sooner if Sam hadn't have combed his hair three times." Hawk said.

"Come on. It didn't even take that long." Sam said.

"It took 25 minutes for you to try to make your hair much more unkempt."

"So?"

"Guys, we get it." Jojo said.

"You guys ready to party?" asked Jonah.

"You betcha!" Travis exclaimed.

Suddenly, Mike, Cody, Caitlyn, Misty, Noah, Seth, Austin, Zeke, Koa, Mana and Marcus came by and they saw everyone there. Jonah asked, "How goes it, guys?"

"Pretty good." Marcus replied.

"Ready for the night?" asked Seth.

"Of course. They don't call me the party animal for nothing." Mike said.

"That's because it got taken away from the circus and planned to release it into the wilderness and instead, it gets dropped off to society." Misty said.

Mike laughs sarcastically and said, "Look who's talking, Mrs. Scrooge."

"Mrs. Scrooge?"

"You're beyond Mr. Scrooge!"

"Oh, whatever!"

"Okay, let's get ready to party." Jojo said.

"Jojo's right. Let's make this party the most awesomest party ever." Caitlyn said.

As soon as they entered, walked across the hall and into the gymnasium, it was very Christmas-y decorated and every one of the students showed and they knew that they were gonna have the time of their lives, without a doubt. All of them were in different areas and Mike and Cody ran off and started dancing on the dance floor.

Everyone looked at them and enjoyed their dancing skills. Suddenly, Mike did some breakdancing as did Cody who completely busted a move, which impressed everyone in the gymnasium. Misty's eyes widened when she saw how good Mike was with his dancing. Most of them applauded and cheered as Mike and Cody went back with his friends.

"How'd you learn how to do that?" asked Zeke.

"We kinda looked over dancing moves on WhoTube and we pretty much made our own moves and stuff, so." Cody said.

"That was amazing, you guys!" Noah exclaimed.

"Thanks."

"I guess it was...cool." Misty said.

"Well, what do you know, a compliment. It's about time you showed appreciation for my skills." Mike said.

"Just because I gave a compliment doesn't mean that I'll start to like you."

"I think you guys did amazing." Caitlyn said.

Jonah and Marcus went over to the refreshments and Marcus got some cider and Jonah had some hot cocoa. Marcus looked at Jonah and asked, "Drinking some hot chocolate?"

"Yep. It tastes so good and warm." Jonah said.

"Yeah. My parents like both hot cocoa and hot cider. It kinda tastes like warm apple juice and cinnamon, but it's Christmas. So, it tastes pretty good."

"You like both hot cocoa or hot apple cider?"

"I prefer both, but mostly hot chocolate. And what I like about it is that I put in some marshallows in it."

"Marshmallows?"

"Yeah. I like marshmallows, so."

Jonah looks over and sees some cookies coming in and took a bite out the chocolate chip cookies and also the snickerdoodles as well. Marcus looks at Jonah and sees that he's eating some cookies. He chuckled and asked, "You like cookies, don't ya?'

"Yeah, I'm think that when they serve more, I think I might be a little cookie-drunk."

Marcus laughs a little and said, "Cookie-drunk."

As the party continues on, Noah and Travis were in the middle of dancing around the stage, showing off their amazing moves. It attracted every single part of the crowd as they played a hip-hop song and definitely looked the part, but in a playful way. All of the crowd definitely gave props for Travis and Noah.

"That was awesome, dude!" Noah said.

"Yours too." Travis said.

Austin and Seth went along with Koa and Mana just to talk about their Christmas past. From what Austin and Seth heard, it became kinda disturbing for them to listen to.

"Our dad would somehow drink and smoke cocaine and take many amounts of painkillers and every Christmas Eve, he would get in a fit of rage for no reason and just take it out on me, mostly for trying to get into the Christmas spirit and he tells me that there is no such thing and for that, he bashed me on the head and locked me in a closet for 5 hours." Koa said.

"5 hours? That's terrible." Seth said.

"Yeah, I know."

"What else would he do to you?" asked Austin.

"Well, sometimes, he would come to our rooms and gave us a Christmas day beating by throwing us on a wall and punching us in the face and throwing us across the room." Mana said.

"Ouch."

"It's painful."

"Sorry I asked that."

"Did you guys have any Christmas memories?" asked Koa.

"Well, me, my dad and Seth would always gather around the tree and he would tell us stories about his first Christmas and ours as well. When we were kids, when we're asleep, he always left a candy cane on our bed as our little Christmas present and on Christmas Day, we would all wake up and open Christmas presents. " Austin explained.

"It always brought us closer together and we always look forward to another Christmas every year." Seth said.

Koa blinked his eyes and said, "Sounds like you guys have good memories."

"Yeah, we do. And so will you guys."

"You make it sound so sure."

"We are and I think eventually, you'll get into the holiday spirit."

"You think so?" asked Mana.

"When you have friends with you around, anything is possible." Austin said.

Jojo and Dustin were hanging out and Jojo showed Dustin his notebook and inside of it contains lyrics. Dustin looks through every song Jojo wrote and he read a few parts of this one.

_What do I do to ignore them behind me?  
Do I follow my instincts blindly?  
Do I hide my pride from these bad dreams?  
And give in to sad thoughts that are maddening?  
Do I sit here and try to stand it?  
Or do I try to catch them red-handed?  
Do I trust some and get fooled by phoniness,  
Or do I trust nobody and live in loneliness?  
Because I can't hold on when I'm stretched so thin  
I make the right moves but I'm lost within  
I put on my daily facade but then  
I just end up getting hurt again  
By myself _

_I ask why, but in my mind  
I find I can't rely on myself_

_I ask why, but in my mind  
I find I can't rely on myself_

_I can't hold on  
To what I want when I'm stretched so thin  
It's all too much to take in  
I can't hold on  
To anything watching everything spin  
With thoughts of failure sinking in_

One look at this and Dustin asked, "What's the story behind this one?"

"Basically, that what would happen if I tld my dad I would never be mayor of Whoville and he'd disown me. It came from a nightmare I had a few years ago and I wrote this one in the middle of the night, like 3 or 4 in the morning, I think it was."

"Amazing."

Dustin keeps going through the pages and stopped at one and reads it as well.

_Staring out into the world across the street, you hate the way your life turned out to be_

_He's pulling up in the driveway and you don't make a sound, cause you always learn to hold the things you want to say, you're always going to be afraid_

_There's only hate, there's only tears, there's only pain, there is no love here, Oh, so what will you do?_

_There's only lies, there's only fears, there's only pain, there is no love here_

It captivated Dustin and it really hit him hard to know that this song really meant something much more powerful to the fact that it was about the pressure coming from his father. It related to him to what the antagonism between him and his father ultimately became. Dustin was shaken up from this song Jojo wrote and it made him feel like he's tearing a dark hole for everyone to listen to.

He turned to Jojo and said, "That's an amazing song."

"Yep. It got to a point where I'm so sick of everyone trying to give me a hard time at school because my dad is who he is and how everyone in school always puts me down because I'm his son. His emo-freak, screw-up of a son, so I poured out my feelings into this one." Jojo said.

"It really related to me in a number of levels, because of my dad."

"It did?"

"Yeah, me and my dad never got along after my mom's death and there's always so much hate, pain, suffering, fears and tension at our house. And it really shows in this song."

"I'm glad you like it."

Dustin continues going through the lyrics until he saw a poem that he wrote and that little spot on a sheet of paper could tell it was a dried tear. He reads this poem and suddenly, it chokes him up.

_I close my eyes  
the tears i cried  
the wishes i would make  
what was right  
now is wrong  
all because of me  
I didn't think i would be missed  
now i sink in the dark abyss  
My heart is open look what i did  
It's because of me  
my world is twisted  
But hear my cry  
listen to my plea  
just another chance so i can see  
my friends again the smiles and tears  
all my friends i had for years  
To see my dad and let him know  
even though he's a goof  
i love him so  
I close my eyes  
the tears begin to fall  
I whisper to the sky  
"i want to exist again"_

Tears were streaming down on Dustin's face after he read it and really felt blown away by it. He looked at Jojo and said, "You have an awesome gift for writing than I am."

"Thanks. It's sort of my guilty pleasure, but if I have something to get off my chest, I just have to put it on paper, because no one will listen to you speak, so I thought the best way possible is to pour out all my feelings and thoughts and fears in paper."

"I understand it completely. Thanks for letting me show your songs."

"No problem."

Misty, Caitlyn, Hawk, Cyrus, Sam and Zeke were all just talking and laughing. Zeke showed them a trick that he throws in a cookie, opens his mouth and the cookie lands in his mouth.

"Wow!" Misty exclaimed.

"How'd you learn how to do that?" asked Hawk.

"Takes practice and skills and most of all, a huge appetite. It's kinda weird, but it's a lot better than sports." Zeke said.

"So, basically, you keep your eye on the cookie?" asked Cyrus.

"Yep."

"Looks impressive."

"So, how come you would never do sports?" asked Sam.

"Dad was always the dominate force of sports and he tries to take control of my life and my future by putting his career towards me. All I want to do is just write songs and maybe either sing or be in a band. I would rather choose music over sports in any given day."

"Have you ever told him that it was important to you?"

"Several times, but he told me that it makes you sissy and wimpy. And it's not true."

"You know what your dad needs? A therapist. All you have to do is just stand up to him and do what makes you happy, not on what makes your dad happy."

Zeke sighed and said, "I guess you're right. I just hope I'll do the right thing."

"You will."

A couple of minutes later, everyone got together on the stage and decided to sing a song together. When the music plays, everyone joins in the stage.

_Zeke: Hot and dangerous_

_If you're one of us, then roll with us_

_Cause we make the hipsters fall in love_

_When we got our hot pants on and up_

_Cody: And yes of course_

_Because we running this town just like the club_

_Mike and Cody: And no you don't wanna mess with us_

_Got a heart in my necklace_

_Misty: Got that glitter on my eyes_

_Stockings ripped all up the side_

_Looking sick and crazified_

_So let's go_

_Misty and Caitlyn: LET'S GO!_

_Jojo, Marcus and Zeke: Tonight we're going hard_

_Hard, hard, hard, hard, hard_

_Just like the world is ours, ours, ours, ours, ours, ours_

_We're tearing it apart, part, part, part, part, part_

_You know we're superstars_

_We are who we are_

_Koa, Mana, Austin, Seth: We're dancing like we're dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb_

_Our moves going numb, numb, numb, numb, numb, numb_

_We'll be forever young, young, young, young, young, young_

_You know we're superstars_

_We are who we are_

_Everyone: DJ, turn it up!_

_Dustin: It's about that time to live it up_

_I'm so sick of being so serious_

_It's making my brain delirious_

_Cody, Mike and Dustin: I'm just talking truth_

_I'm telling you about this stuff we do_

_We're selling our clothes_

_Jumping in cars_

_Dressing it down_

_Falling for those chicks...hard_

_Caitlyn: Got that glitter on my eyes_

_Stockings ripped all up the side_

_Jojo and Caitlyn: Looking sick and crazified_

_So let's go_

_Everyone: LET'S GO!_

_Tonight we're going hard, hard, hard, hard, hard, hard_

_Just like the world is ours, ours, ours, ours, ours, ours_

_We're tearing it apart, part, part, part, part, part_

_You know we're superstars_

_We are who we are_

_We're dancing like we're dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb_

_Our moves are going numb, numb, numb, numb, numb, numb_

_We'll be forever young, young, young, young, young, young_

_You know we're superstars_

_We are who we are_

_DJ, turn it up, up, up, up, up, up, up_

_DJ, turn it up, up, up, up, up, up, up_

_DJ, turn it up, up, up, up, up, up, up_

_DJ, turn it up, up, up, up, up, up, up, up_

_Tonight we're going hard, hard, hard, hard, hard, hard_

_Just like the world is ours, ours, ours, ours, ours, ours_

_We're tearing it apart, part, part, part, part, part_

_You know we're superstars_

_We are who we are_

_We're dancing like we're dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb_

_Our moves are going numb, numb, numb, numb, numb, numb_

_We'll be forever young, young, young, young, young, young_

_You know we're superstars_

_We are who we are!_

They finished up the song with a thunderous applause and all of the gang felt ecstatic about this performance. They then left the stage and headed outside and started laughing and talking. It's snowing so Jojo thought it'd be a great opportunity to take a picture with him and his friends just showing how happy they are for kicking off the Christmas holiday.

As soon as that picture was took, they knew for a fact that it'll be the best Christmas ever.

* * *

That's a long chapter to write and I had to end it with a bang. Those songs were 'By Myself' from Linkin Park, 'No Love' from Simple Plan, the poem was suggested by someone I know that someone gave me and 'We R Who We R' from Ke$ha. Hope ya'll likey! Stay tuned for more!


	11. Christmas Day

The Mosley's first Christmas with the McDodd's and also the coolest Christmas day ever!

* * *

Chapter 11: Christmas Day

December 25th-Christmas Day

Jojo woke up early in the morning to come downstairs and sees that it's Christmas Day. He goes towards the Christmas tree and there's a roomful of presents downstairs and even under the tree. He chuckled softly and can't wait to open these gifts. Then, one by one, all of his 96 sisters came down the stairs to see what's under the tree, alongside Jonah, Sam, Travis, Hawk and Cyrus. And when they all came down, their reactions said it all.

"Look at how big those presents are." said Amy.

"They're huge!" exclaimed Hailey.

"So, what do we do?" asked Travis.

"What are you all standing around here for? It's Christmas! Open your presents!" Ned exclaimed.

Without question, everyone dug under the Christmas tree and ripped open the presents one-by-one. All the girls had were mostly toys, dolls, and for the older ones-a cell phone, WhoPod and several clothes. Jojo had huge presents like a couple of CD's, a new WhoPod, notebook and a video camera. Jonah had a truck full of presents like some new clothes, a new guitar and some CD's while Travis, Hawk, Cyrus and Sam had mostly CD's, WhoPods and cameras.

"Look at these, guys. That is definitely awesome!" Jojo said.

The Mosley's looked at Jojo's WhoPod and they were mesmerized by it. Travis asked, "What color is it?"

"Grey." Jojo answered.

"That's amazing. Mine's blue."

"My WhoPod's like green." Hawk said.

"Mine's red." Cyrus said.

"And mine's white." Sam said.

Jojo turned on his video camera and filmed mostly everything and suddenly, Ned comes around with an elf costume. Jojo snickered a little and thought that this is the most cheesiest costume he's seen, but it became fun to record over. Jonah said, "Is that an elf costume?"

"Why, yes it is, Jonah." Ned said.

Then, he puts on some fake elf ears on his head and Travis made a face that looked like it was the most crappiest costume ever. And Ned said, "What do you guys think? And be brutal."

"Looks great, dad." Jonah said.

Suddenly, Jojo looks at Jonah and asked, "Did you just say 'dad'?"

"Well, yeah."

"And you know why you said it?"

"Why?"

"You definitely belong here after all."

"Well, no one can replace my actual dad and my adopted dad is pretty much like my actual dad before he died that is."

"So, you feel like you're feeling a sense of belonging here?"

"Yeah, I do. This is the first Christmas we have that is just perfect."

"And you guys will have more Christmases like this more to come in the near future." Sally said.

"I hope so."

A few hours later, they were all outside playing in the snow and Jojo and his brothers were all playing a snowball fight. There was laughter around these parts and suddenly, Zeke, Marcus, Cody, Mike, Noah, Seth, Austin, Koa, Mana, Caitlyn, Misty and Dustin came around to see what Jojo and the others are doing.

Mike sees that they're in a snowball fight and decided to throw a snowball at Jonah and suddenly, Jonah turned around and sees Mike with a snowball.

"Oh, this is war! This is war!" Jonah exclaimed.

Everyone started throwing snowballs at each other and Dustin, Koa, Mana and Zeke finally experienced their first Christmas for the first time. That snowball definitely felt like this is gonna be great memory that'll stay with them forever. Koa and Mana threw snowballs along with Dustin and Zeke and everyone else.

Suddenly, they formed an alliance-boys against girls-throwing snowballs at each other, even though there's two girls and 15 guys around these parts. But, they decided to have each 5 partners in each team to throw snowballs at each other. There's more laughter and everything that's Christmas fun.

After that, they all went inside the McDodd house to spend most of their Christmas. For Dustin, it was the first time he ever came to Jojo's house before.

"Great home, Jojo." Dustin said.

"Thanks."

"I've got hot chocolate for you all in the kitchen." Sally said.

"No probs."

Everyone went towards the kitchen and in it spots 100-something cups of hot cocoa. Misty said, "Whoa, that's huge."

"I know, right?" asked Jojo.

17 of them got their hot cocoa and drank it all up. Marcus said, "This is a great Christmas. This morning, I finally got that video game-Punk Hero. It's an awesome video game where you can rock out to some punk tunes."

"I've heard of that game. Looks great." Jonah said.

"What is it with you guys and video games?" asked Misty.

"I bet you never even played a single video game before." Mike said.

"Have so...in my cousin's house."

"Like?"

"They got Punk Hero for girls as well."

"Punk Hero for girls?" asked Jonah.

"Yep. It's the same as Punk Hero, only more girlier and you get all these pop songs and turn it into punk rock. Can't get any cooler than that."

"When Mike and I woke up, we saw this flat-screen TV in our bedrooms with a gift ribbon on top of it and it was huge." Cody said.

"No way, really?" asked Mana.

"Yeah, we're not kidding. We wish we were kidding the first time we woke up, but we're not." Mike said.

"And we also got a new guitar as well as a piano."

"That's so cool."

"I gotta say this is turning out to be the best Christmas ever." Dustin said.

"Told ya you'd have a Christmas memory." Jojo said.

"I hope it never goes away."

"Me too." Zeke said.

"So do we." Mana said.

"You guys have any presents?" asked Noah.

"So far, when we woke up, we each got a Who-kelele. Seems like this is a good morning for us without our dad's fits of rage." Koa said.

"I got some drums, a guitar, piano and also a few DVD's." Zeke said.

"I got a video game, guitar and a WhoPod." Dustin said.

"Wow. That's amazing."

"What I got were a few books, guitar and CD's as well." Noah said.

"Awesome of course."

Everyone all talked about their Christmas and only a few hours later, everyone gathered around the tree to take their Christmas picture. After it was taken, everyone started laughing and they felt the joy coming through them and that it'll be a Christmas moment they'll remember.

* * *

That had to be the Christmas everyone wanted to be! Stay tuned as I wrap this story up!


	12. A New Year

The gang comes together to enjoy a new year!

* * *

Chapter 12: A New Year

6 days after Christmas, Jojo, Jonah, Travis, Sam, Hawk and Cyrus went over to the park and enjoy their first time going to a New Year's Party. As soon as they got there, they saw Mike and Cody coming in. Jojo caught Cody's attention and walked towards them and said, "What's up, guys?"

"Not much. Just enjoying ourselves for New Years." Jojo said.

"So are we."

Suddenly, Zeke, Mana, Koa, Noah, Dustin, Seth, Austin, Marcus and Caitlyn came in together to enjoy this.

"Hey, guys. What's up?" asked Zeke.

"Not much. Happy New Year's Eve, guys." Jojo said.

"You too."

"Hey, Caitlyn."

"Hey, Jojo." Caitlyn said.

"Where's Misty?"

"She had to leave town for celebrate New Year's with her family downtown Whoville."

"Good riddance. That'll make my night." Mike said.

As soon as the party started, the gang is starting to have fun and there's music playing and fireworks going around. Jonah, Jojo and Zeke went around some rides while everyone else went to the arcade to play some serious games. When they finally got together, they had a full buffet and they had all the food that got.

Zeke, Jojo and Dustin walked around the park and Jojo asked, "What do you guys think this new year will be like?"

"Hopefully, it'll be a better year than the last." Zeke said.

"How so?"

"Well, my dad and I always had a falling out between my future and his sports. And there's always a lot of antagonism in this house and he always criticizes how I look, how I sound, what music I listen. It's like he's the bully in my house."

"So, what are you hoping?"

"That I can tell him that music is much more important to me than sports."

"Well, my hope to next year is that I would be surrounded by friends like the ones I have now." Dustin said.

"Mine would have to be hopefully, letting my dad know that I'm following my path instead of being mayor of Whoville." Jojo said.

"Well, I'm rooting for ya, man." Zeke said.

"Thanks, Z."

Suddenly, Marcus comes over and said, "You know what I'm hoping for this new year? Looking forward to being 16, because you know, I still wanna have my friends with me throughout this age and hopefully, not succumb to being in the in-crowd, because I'm with my crowd."

"That's right. Forget with everyone in high school says. We aare all divided amd we stand for what we believe in."

All of a sudden, they hear that they're gonna countdown to the new year, so they ran to the front of the park and met up with Cody, Mike, Koa, Mana, Caitlyn, Noah, Jonah, Seth, Austin, Travis, Hawk, Cyrus and Sam together.

They all heard the crowd count down and joined in as well.

"10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Everyone in the crowd starts cheering and the fireworks fly out of the sky and the confetti's pouring down as midnight stoke on the new year.

"How awesome is that?" Jojo exclaimed.

"Completely."

"Hopefully, me and Koa will have a better year than last." Mana said.

"You guys will, because you know why? You've got friends. We'll all be here and that's the best gift of this new year, especially you...DJ."

Dustin smiled and said, "Thanks, Jojo."

"You know, me and my brothers are hoping that this year will be a great year, because we're part of your family and I know for a fact that this will be the best year ever." Jonah said.

"Right you are, Jonah. We're friends for life."

"Brothers for life."

Jojo smiled and said, "Better."

Everyone went in for a group hug and Jojo whispered, "I love you guys."

"So do we." everyone said.

* * *

That is it! That's a wrap! Thank you guys for liking this story! Merry Christmas from Animation Universe 2005! Or Happy New Year also! You know what I'm taking about. See yall and much love from your awesome friend, Animation Universe 2005!


	13. Bonus Chapter

My friend, vampire1031 requested this chapter to put in a little confrontation that Jojo and the gang are about to take place where they confronted Dustin's father. I hope this is a cool chapter for ya, so here's a bonus chapter!

* * *

Bonus Chapter: Confronting Dustin's Father

Jojo hears something on his phone and it was a text message from Dustin that says, 'My dad is just telling me that I'm the worst son off the face of this earth and that Christmas sucks and that I shouldn't celebrate it'.

It pained Jojo to see Dustin's father say those things towards him and even on the holiday season. Suddenly, Jojo texted that message to his friends-Cody, Mike, Koa, Mana, Misty, Caitlyn, Noah, Seth, Austin, Zeke and his brothers-Jonah, Travis, Cyrus, Hawk and Sam. When they received that message, most of them felt like they were truly shocked and wanted to give Dustin's father a certain talk-to.

They met up at Jojo's place and most of them were enraged at this message. Caitlyn asked, "Why would Dustin's dad say all these things to DJ?"

"I don't know. He's told me his father wasn't into the holiday spirit, because he thinks it's just nothing but a bunch a stupid happy sentimental bullcrap." Jojo replied.

"WHAT? Is this guy serious?" asked Cody.

"The message pretty much said it all."

"This means war, holiday spirit style!" Misty exclaimed.

"Yeah, Dustin's dad will be sorry that he ever disrepected the holidays and Dustin." Mike said.

"Whoa, did I just see that?" asked Jonah.

"What?"

"You and Misty actually agree on something."

"That is weird in so many levels." Misty said.

"So, where's Marcus?" asked Noah.

"Oh, I almost forgot to send him the message." Jojo said.

He whipped out the copy of Dustin's message and sent it to Marcus. Suddenly, 50 seconds later, they heard a knock on the door and Jojo comes in to answer the door and it was Marcus coming in with his dark black hoodie. He came in and said, "Got Dustin's message. His father must have some nerve."

He then sits with the entire gang and Travis said, "We have got to do something about this."

"How?" asked Austin.

"How about we give him a reality check?" asked Noah.

"What good will that do? He'll never get the message."

"Maybe we should tell him that Christmas is the best thing and why he felt like that towards Dustin." Zeke said.

"What do you suggest?"

"We might have a little 'chat' with him and tell him that he's a dumb-butt for hating it, like a crazy Grinch."

"Great idea."

"So, are you guys in?"

"Yeah, we're in."

Everyone puts their hands in and exclaimed, "Whoville Outcasts!"

Later, they went towards the neighborhood and sees Dustin sitting in the front porch, looking down. Suddenly, Dustin slowly raises his face and there's a little scar on his cheek. Jojo looked at it and asked, "What happened?"

"My dad's work, as you can see. We just had a big fight over me getting into the holiday spirit and then, he slapped me in the face." Dustin explained.

"WHAT? Where is he? I'll give him something to slap about!" Misty exclaimed.

"I don't think you oughta do that."

"Why not?"

"Because if you do that, he'll do the same thing."

"I'm not afraid of him. I don't even care if he slaps me. I'll slap him back!"

Dustin sighed heavily and asked, "Why did you guys come?"

"Well, Jojo sent us all your message and we figured that we can't let any of our friends be treated like that, especially on Christmas, so we decided to confront him." Marcus said.

"Someone really has to tell him that you can celebrate Christmas whether he likes it or not. What happened to your mom can't get in the way of your holiday spirit." Jonah said.

"You guys mean that?" asked Dustin.

"It's not your fault that it happened." Travis said.

"It's not."

Suddenly, the door opens and his father comes out and tells him, "Dustin! Get inside this house! And get those kids out of here!"

"We're friends of his. We go to the same school." said Caitlyn.

"I don't give a Grinch's foot about it." Dustin's father sneered.

Everyone looked at each other and Misty asked, "Is this guy for real?"

Jojo goes in and said, "Listen, why do you put the blame on Dustin over his mom's death? It wasn't his fault that she died in a car accident."

"Dustin! You told them that?"

"Yes, I did."

"YOU IDIOT!"

His father pushed him down the snow and Misty looked at it and exclaimed, "You stupid, good-for-nothing-"

"Now you shut up! You kids have got to get out of my property now!"

"Dude, we can stand on your property as long as we feel like. Just because this sort of thing happened, doesn't mean you have to take it out on Dustin and Christmas."

"Christmas is a freakin' waste of life!"

"Have you ever heard of peace on earth, goodwill toward men?" asked Mana.

"Those can all go down the toilet for all I care."

"Listen, Dustin has also told me that you think he doesn't want to be like other perfect sons, because there is no such thing as the perfect son." Jojo said.

"Says who?"

"Says me."

"Now you listen, Dustin does not need to associate with you people, so why don't you just get out of here, understand?"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Dustin screamed.

Suddenly, everyone turned to Dustin and he became super-angry and his father asked, "What did you just say?"

"I'm sick of how you treat my friends like that and I'm also sick of how you treat me. You act like the car accident was my fault, but I didn't even cause it!"

"Look, Dustin-"

"No, you look! If you're gonna accept me as a son, you have to accept me the way I am and my friends as well."

"Why would I accept you when you look like a messed-up rock star? I don't know why am I even in this conversation with you! You're a waste of life!"

Dustin pushed him down on the ground and yelled, "I'm tired of you always putting me down! You made my life miserable too many times and I'm sick of it!"

His father pushed him down the ground hard and that was the straw that broke his friends back. They all pitched in to help Dustin and comfort him while his father watched in shock.

"Get your hands off my son!" his father bellowed.

"Your son is one of us now. If you can't accept him for who we is, we will." Jojo said.

"So, you could've treated him with respect and we wouldn't have this situation that went down, but you left us no choice." Koa said.

"If you would've accepted him for who he is after his mom died, then why even bother giving him a chance?" asked Zeke.

Everyone pitched in to bring Dustin back to Jojo's house while his father watched in shock as Dustin went with them. One the way back, Dustin looked at all of them and said, "Guys..."

"Yeah?" asked Marcus.

"You didn't have to stick up for me like you did."

"You're one of us, DJ. It's the holidays, so the Christmas spirit lies within you." Sam said.

"Thank you guys so much."

"No problem."

* * *

Was that intense or what? vampire1031, I hope you like this one! See ya'll later!


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